there's a riot of films in France

I see from Yahoo that mid-way through the Cannes Film Festival the rumour mill is grinding about the success/failure of the films in competition. It’s nice to see that Ken Loach’s Irish drama is getting good press.

The tone of the article is interesting: there is a suggestion of an American/European struggle in regards to the quality of the films in competition, with Europe emerging on top (this year). People invent drama for the sake of publicity.

I was saddened to hear that Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales is not garnering good reviews. How on Earth is it 2 hours and 40 minutes long? My prediction is that the film will be re-acquainted with the editing sheers before it gets a general release.

Almodóvar’s latest film, Volver, has a lot of buzz–no surprise as Almodóvar is an audacious director of surreal and fascinating movies. His films are not always entirely successful, but they are never boring.

I look forward to hearing how Sofia Coppola’s Marie-Antoinette fares with the critics. It’s ballsy, when you consider it, for an American director to cast an American actress in a portrayal of the last Queen of France, and to air the film in Cannes for the first time. The last American film to feature the life of the French Queen was the 1938 epic, Marie Antoinette, directed by W.S. Van Dyke and starring Norma Shearer.

Let’s hope there won’t be demands for the return of Madame Guillotine as the credits roll on Coppola’s new film.